Despite a warm, genial personality, actor Robert Carlyle made a career out of playing dark, crazed and often brutally violent characters, but none more vivid and visceral than the sociopathic Begbie in his breakout film, "Trainspotting" (1996). Prior to his international breakthrough, Carlyle spent three seasons as the star of the police series "Hamish Macbeth" (BBC Scotland, 1995-98), while appearing in a number of British-made films. After "Trainspotting," however, Carlyle did an about-face to play a down-and-out steelworker who marshals his fellow out-of-work mates to earn cash by staging an all-male strip review in the critically heralded comedy "The Full Monty" (1997). Following a sympathetic turn in "Angela's Ashes" (1999), he was arch-villain Renard to Pierce Brosnan's James Bond in "The World is Not Enough" (1999) and a crazed man ranting about a hidden paradise in Danny Boyle's "The Beach" (2000). He went on to brilliantly portray the Führer in "Hitler: The Rise of Evil" (2003) and a powerful sex trafficker in "Human Trafficking" (Lifetime Television, 2005). On the small screen, he continued delivering the goods as a mad scientist on "Stargate Universe" (Syfy, 2009-2011) and the...

Despite a warm, genial personality, actor Robert Carlyle made a career out of playing dark, crazed and often brutally violent characters, but none more vivid and visceral than the sociopathic Begbie in his breakout film, "Trainspotting" (1996). Prior to his international breakthrough, Carlyle spent three seasons as the star of the police series "Hamish Macbeth" (BBC Scotland, 1995-98), while appearing in a number of British-made films. After "Trainspotting," however, Carlyle did an about-face to play a down-and-out steelworker who marshals his fellow out-of-work mates to earn cash by staging an all-male strip review in the critically heralded comedy "The Full Monty" (1997). Following a sympathetic turn in "Angela's Ashes" (1999), he was arch-villain Renard to Pierce Brosnan's James Bond in "The World is Not Enough" (1999) and a crazed man ranting about a hidden paradise in Danny Boyle's "The Beach" (2000). He went on to brilliantly portray the Führer in "Hitler: The Rise of Evil" (2003) and a powerful sex trafficker in "Human Trafficking" (Lifetime Television, 2005). On the small screen, he continued delivering the goods as a mad scientist on "Stargate Universe" (Syfy, 2009-2011) and the Machiavellian Rumpelstiltskin on "Once Upon a Time" (ABC, 2011- ). No matter what type of role he played, Carlyle fully inhabited each character with such force and conviction that he developed a solid reputation for being one of the most electrifying performers on either side of the Atlantic.

Appeared as a political candidate in the British TV production "Taggart"

1990:

Acted in first starring role in Ken Loach's "Riff-Raff"

1993:

Made first collaboration with director Antonia Bird, the BBC-2 TV-movie "Safe"

:

Originally cast as Alex Law in "Shallow Grave"; dropped out of project and replaced by Ewan McGregor

1994:

Co-starred in Bird's controversial film "Priest"

1995:

Starred in popular Scottish TV series "Hamish Macbeth"

1995:

Played a man stricken with multiple sclerosis on the TV drama "Go Now"; released theatrically in 1998

1995:

Made his U.S. TV debut as a villain in "Cracker: To Be a Somebody" (A&E)

1996:

Reteamed with Ken Loach for "Carla's Song" (released in the U.S. in 1998)

1996:

Won critical appreciation for his turn as the psychopathic Begbie in Danny Boyle's acclaimed film "Trainspotting"

1997:

Made third film with director Antonia Bird, playing a gangster in "Face"

1997:

Starred in the Oscar-nominated sleeper hit "The Full Monty," playing an unemployed steelworker who hits on the idea for a ragtag group to perform a strip show

1998:

Co-starred with Jonny Lee Miller in the period drama "Plunkett and Macleane"

1999:

Reteamed with Antonia Bird (when she replaced Milcho Manchevski as director) on "Ravenous"

1999:

Co-starred with Emily Watson in "Angela's Ashes"

:

Merged his film company Raindog into 4way Pictures, a partnership with Bird and Mark Cousins

1999:

Portrayed the villain to Pierce Brosnan's James Bond in "The World Is Not Enough"

2000:

Landed a featured cameo in "The Beach," helmed by Danny Boyle

2002:

Co-starred in "Formula 51" aka "The 51st State"

2003:

Cast as Jimmy in the action fature "Once Upon a Time in the Midlands"

2006:

Earned an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for "Human Trafficking"

2006:

Cast in "Eragon" a fantasy/adventure movie based on the novel of the same name

2007:

Co-starred in "28 Weeks Later," the sequel to Danny Boyle¿s 2002 film "28 Days Later"

2008:

Acted in the Fox TV-movie "24: Redemption"

2009:

Starred on the Syfy adventure series "SGU Stargate Universe"

2011:

Joined the cast of ABC fairy tale-inspired series "Once Upon A Time" as Rumplestiltskin

2012:

Played a former Britpop rocker facing deportation from the U.S. in "California Solo"

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Education

Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama:
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Notes

Made Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1998

"There's something that he hasn't used a lot but he's got. He's got the intensity and charisma of a lead actor. He's also got the range of a character actor. He's got the option, really. I've said to Bobby that he should do some role in the States because he's done about everything he can do in Britain." --"Trainspotting" director Danny Boyle quoted in Los Angeles Times, August 24, 1997.

"I get a big kick out of it when people go and see 'The Full Monty' and say, 'I thought you said the guy from 'Trainspotting' was in this!' That's the biggest compliment you could be paid, as an actor." --Robert Carlyle to Entertainment Weekly, September 5, 1997.

"I'm happy going along the way I'm going. I have no great desire to jump into this crazy race for megastardom. I came from Nicaragua straight into the madness after 'Trainspotting' was released, and I was able to distance myself from it all because I had just been through another experience." --Carlyle quoted in The New York Times, August 10, 1997.

"When I started off, I tried my best to give the [British] tabloids good copy that would be useful to them while keeping a wee bit of myself back. The stuff they then did on my mother and father and my personal life, my love life, was quite shocking. I opened the paper and there was my mother, whom I hadn't seen for thirty-two years. It makes you feel lousy. It's made me even more reclusive--if that's possible. What is this thing called freedom of the press? It's sickening--it's an absolute disgrace. I know the royals are supposedly up for grabs but I don't think they should suffer it either," --Carlyle to Scottish Accent, October-November 1996.

"I try to disguise myself as much as possible in the roles, the uglier the better ... So in my own life, it means I can go in places and no one bothers me because they don't even recognize me. Yeah, I know some actors want to look beautiful, but that's no' acting to me. If you're concerned about how pretty you look and how nice your costume is, you should go into modeling." --Robert Carlyle quoted in HQ, 1996.

On choosing roles: "When I choose a script, it must contain some social worth, some social comment somewhere down the line for me." --quoted in London's Evening Standard, September 1997.

"I suppose I AM classically trained, but it's not something I draw on as much as film acting. I feel that when theatre acting meets film acting, it's like two worlds colliding. I think it's very, very dangerous to bring ANYTHING you've learned from the theatre onto a film set; it just does not work. In theatre, the acting is about throwing it out; in film it's about bringing it in. That's the distinction in microcosm, right there." --Carlyle in Sight and Sound, October 1997.